bowick



(No Model.)

2 K C W 0 B G APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING ALCOHOL. No. 393,057.

Patented Nov. 20, 1888.

E: .lllnll:

Wibwemod "HUN Thomas GilbmflBowick N. mm Phch-Ullwgraphu, Wnhinglon, n. c.

. u e e h S S t .e e h s 2 K O I 0 B G a d 0 M 0 m APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING ALCOHOL.

Patented Now).- '20; 1888.

Thomas Gilbert Bow 1107c.

N. PETERS. PholM-Nhagnphnr. Wahingbn. [1Q

NITED STATES rrica.

PATENT APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING ALCOHOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,057, dated November 20, 1888.

Application filed Scptrmberfll, 1888. Serial No. 285,955. fNomodel.) Patented in England Ociober 29, 1887, No.14,737; in France November 4, 1887, No. H6780; in Germany November 11, 1887, No. 13,695; in Luxemburg hfarlrh 20, i888, N0. 968; in Norway March 2-1, 1888, No. 863 and in Italy May 3, 1888, XLV, 467.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMASGILBERT Bow- K,- a subject of the Queen of England, residlog at Harpenden, in the county of Hertford andKingdom of England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Purifying Alcohol, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in Great Britain, No. 14,737, dated October 29, 1887; in France, No. 186,780, dated November 4, 1887; in Luxemburg, N o. 968, dated March 20, 1888; in Italy, No. 467, Vol. XLV, dated May 3,1888; in Norway, No. 863, dated March 24, 1888, and in Germany, N 0. 43,695, dated November 11, 1887,) of which the following is a specification.

In the specification accompanying my application for Letters Patent filed on the 2d of November, 1887, No. 254,10l, I have described anovel process for purifying alcohol by means of hydrocarbon.

My present invention relates to apparatus whereby the said process can be conveniently effected, as I will describe, referring to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan, of the whole apparatus arranged for five cylinders. Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional elevations of one of the cylinders with modifications. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views.

Each of the four cylinders A has at some distance above its bottom a filtering-diaphragm, B, and at some distance below its top a similar filtering-diaphragm, H, each consisting of a pair of perforated metal plates, h, having between them a sheet or sheets of porous material-such as filtering-paper-h, held between sheets of pervious canvas, B. A fifth cylinder, T, has only the lower filter, B. About the middle of each of the cylinders A is mounted a turbine of the nature of a reaction-wheel or Barkers mill, 1), free to revolve on pipes extending from it downward and upward, that in the cylinder T having only a downward pipe. The downward pipe of the first cylin- -der Anamely, that on the left-co1nmunicates with a pump, E. The downward pipes of the other cylinders A, and also that of T,

communicate by pipes 0 each with the bottom of the next cylinder on its left below its diaphragm B. The upward pipe of the last cylinder A on the right communicates with a pump, N. The upward pipes of the other cylinders A communicate by pipes G each with the top of the neXt cylinder on its left above its diaphragm H. From the upper part ofthe first cylinder A a pipe, L, leads to a tank, M, and from the lower part of the cylinder T a pipe, \V, leads to a centrifugal separator, I, having receptacles O and S for the hydrocarbon and alcohol, respectively.

On first starting the apparatus the four cylinders A are charged by means of the pump E with pure alcohol to about one-third of their height, the last cylinder, T, being charged with pure alcohol to its full height. Then by means of the pump N, or by funnels with stop cocks K, the four cylinders A are charged to their full height with the hydrocarbon liquid. Thus in the first instance all the diaphragms B are moistened with alcohol and all the diaphragms H are moistened with hydrocarbon. The pumps E and N, being then worked, force, respectively, the spirit to be purified and the hydrocarbon through the turbines D, from which they issuein a minutely-subdivided condition, forming together an emulsion. This emulsion is by the action of the pumps E and N forced both upward and downward, tending to escape through the filters H and B; but as the filters H, moistened with hydrocarbon, rcsist passage of alcohol, while the filters B, moistened with alcohol, resist passage of hydrocarbon, the emulsion is, in passing from each cylinder, mostly separated into its two constituents, which are again intermingled as an emulsion in the next cylinder in order, the hydrocarbon in each case taking up impurities from the alcohol. As the alcohol and the hydrocarbon take opposite courses in passing through the apparatus, the most impure spirit meets first with the most impure hydrocarbon, and the spirit most purified by the purest of the hydrocarbon finally passes through the cylinder T to the centrifugal separator P, by which such hydrocarbon as may accompany it is separated, this hydrocarbon collecting in the receptacle 0, While the purified spirit is received in the receptacle S. The hydrocarbon which has efiected the purification of the spirit in the successive cylinders A is received in the tank M, from which it can from time to time be drawn to be itself purified by known methods, and to be used again in the manner described.

\Vhen the operation is conducted without giving the fluids great speed of flow, the separator P may be dispensed with, the purified spirit being discharged directly from the cylinder T.

Although I have shown four cylinders A, there may be a greater or less number acting in succession, as described, and, instead of the turbines D for minutely subdividing the fluids and forming the emulsion, separate roses R, oppositely directed, may be employed, as shown in Fig. 3, or a single rose, X, as shown in Fig. 4, through the perforations of which both the fluids are made to issue.

Having thus described the nature ofmy invention and the best means I know of carrying it out in practice, I claim- 1. An apparatus for the purification of alcohol, comprising a series of chambers each provided with a spraying device at about its center, an alcohol-pu mp located at one end of the series and arranged to force the alcohol to and through the first sprayer, and connections extending from, the bottom of each chamber to the sprayer of the next'one, an oil-pu mp at the opposite end of the series arranged to force liquid hydrocarbon to the nearest sprayer in opposition to the stream of alcohol, and connections from the top of each chamber to the sprayer in the next one, whereby the opposing streams of alcohol and hydrocarbon are brought together at each sprayer and forced into each chamber, a porous diaphragm in each end of each chamber for separating the liquid hydrocarbon and alcohol by osmotic action, and an additional chamber provided with a porous diaphragm for receiving the finished alcohol, substantially as described.

2. An apparatus for the purification of alcohol, comprising a series of chambers each provided with a spraying device at about its center, an alcohol-pump located at one end of the series and arranged to force the alcohol to and through the first sprayer, and connect-ions extending from the bottom of each chamber to the sprayer of the next one, an oil-pump at the opposite end of the series arranged to force liquid hydrocarbon to the nearest sprayer in opposition to the stream of alcohol, and connections from the top of each chamber to the 

